Image rights/usage by 3rd parties

[dean_dmoo]

I recently finished a project for a developer and have received a request by the architect to use the renders for the promotion of their design / firm. They will attribute the images to my company with all their publicity efforts.

On CGarchitect I read a recent Q&A with Dbox that they have a separate contract/licensing for 3rd parties that pay to use the images. Personally I thought just adding my name is enough as that will also generate free publicity for my firm (as I don't actually do any myself).

However I was wondering how do you guys handle these requests and if you normally ask for a license fee?

[glorybound]

My contract says that I get credit any time it is used, however, they never do and I don't enforce it. I have had people not pay and have the balls to use the image. In your case it is a little different; I would ask for credits and keep an eye on it.

[flino2004]

I think is stupid asking for license fee because you get paid to produce those images....I don't think is ok even adding names or logos. it could go the other way around, Architects/designers have the intellectual rights of the projects so they could charge you a fee to use the image of their projects on your website too. To me, a CG artist is creating a representation of other people creativity, ideas, etc so under my eyes when you delivered that illustration of their work they can do whatever they want with it.

[glorybound]

I think people look at the photographer's rights and try to apply it to what they do. I mean, I own the rights to my image (my likeness), yet the photography has a watermark and rights to the photo. That makes just as much sense.

[flino2004]

you are comparing two different realities..... if you want to do artistic renderings in your time.... you could have your logo and sign as big as you want..... maybe somebody would buy them..... but when you are commissioned to do a job you can't even use the renderings in your webpage without permission of the client.

[flino2004]

To be realistic you don't own the rights of your images..... the only right is taking credits if you could..... if your client says you can not use it for anything .....you have to accept.
by default is like that but if you put it in your contract is different.

[dean_dmoo]

Thanks for the input.

@ Flino, It's the other way round in my contracts. I own the rights to the image and the client licenses them.

However it isn't about my actual client, it's about a 3rd parties using your image and/or the image the client paid for to promote themselves or their design. Admittedly with an architect I don't have issues tbh as it's their design, but if some 4th party adviser starts using your image (or the image the client paid for) for their own promotion it starts to become an issue imo.

[flino2004]

Regarding 3rd, 4th parties etc is so difficult because it's a chain of clients and relationships with way more money involve (millions)... Your client is the architectural firm(they pay you 2K per view but the project is 60 million dollars) the final client received your image from the architect and the builder got it too. They are going to use it for promotion as well. What can you do about it? ....if you contact them the only thing that you can get from this is losing one client and 2 potential clients (the final client and the builder).

On the other hand, if I come across with my rendering but somebody says that they did it..... Yes, I would you everything I can to fix that.

Collect the money from your client and build relationships with respect is the best that you can do instead of creating elaborate legal documents where you lose more than everybody else in the chain of services.

[glorybound]

The contract is the meetings of the mind, so whatever the contract says is correct. I do sign NDA's, so I can't share those images. Any other image, they can use it as they wish, however, I get credit. I don't enforce that, but if I did I would win in court. I am not sure how the courts would put a price on it, but the contract is the contract.

[flino2004]

Contracts are not 100% bulletproof....You can write whatever you want in your contract but it doesn't mean that you are right and you are going to win eventually in court. I had a big client and the final Client was a big box store company...They pushed me to sign a contract saying that everything that I produce was their property....So once they asked me for models so I sent the model (hyper-super exploted with no materials) then they asked me for the materials so I refused to send materials and more stuff....and I said they are commercial maps and I can't share them with them....then they started asking me for more stuff so I decided to stop working for them then they sent me emails asking for everything.....so I didn't send a sh&t and they tried to reinforce the contract... I said, my server is broken and I don't have the obligation to have backups so too bad.

I'm still alive, they couldn't do anything about it and according to the contract, the own my soul too and I'm talking a BIG company ...So, nothing is bulletproof